UPDATE: Man sentenced to over 17 years in child murder case

Convicted killer sentenced for child’s homicide

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UPDATE: Dariaz Higgins received 210 concurrent month sentence after a plea deal agreement could not be reached for the murder of his 2-year-old daughter in March 2019.

“It is very alarming that these things happen in our society, it is finally a day when the families can put this at rest,” Mower County Sheriff Steve Sandvik said.

After looking over the disturbing facts, it led the Mower County Attorney to deny any deal for Higgins.

“It’s taken some time to get him back her so it’s been 5 years of just waiting to get her some justice,” Mower County Attorney Kirsten Nelson said.

Higgins is already serving a life sentence for the murder of his daughter’s mother.


UPDATE: Man serving life sentence pleads guilty in child murder case

The day's local, regional and national news, detailed events and late-breaking stories are presented by the ABC 6 News Team, along with the latest sports, weather updates including the extended forecast.

UPDATE: 40-year-old Dariaz Higgins pleaded guilty to the murder of his 2-year-old daughter in March 2019 in a Mower County court.

Higgins previously pleaded not guilty on on March 28, after being extradited from Wisconsin to Minnesota.

Higgins faces a 2nd-degree murder charge after allegedly killing his daughter Noelani Robinson and leaving her body in a ditch while traveling from Austin, Minn., to Minneapolis.


(ABC 6 News) – A man sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a Milwaukee woman appeared in Mower County Court Thursday on a charge of murdering their 2-year-old daughter.

Dariaz Higgins, 39, was transferred to the Mower County Jail Wednesday to appear on a charge of 2nd-degree murder–without intent, while committing a felony after allegedly killing 2-year-old Noelani Robinson at the Rodeway Inn Motel in Austin.

Higgins is currently serving a life sentence at the Waupun Correctional Institute in Wisconsin.

RELATED: ‘Absolutely no remorse’: Life without parole for man who killed woman, shot friend (wisn.com)

According to court documents, on March 11, 2019, the Milwaukee Police Department issued an Amber Alert for Noelani Robinson.

Two days later, Milwaukee police arrested Higgins on suspicion of murdering Sierra Robinson, Noelani’s mother.

Two days after that, a passer-by discovered Noelani Robinsons’ body wrapped in a blanket, in a ditch near Highways 218 and 30, Steele County.

According to court documents, Higgins and Noelani Robinson had been staying in the Rodeway Inn from Feb. 6-March 10, 2019.

Higgins allegedly told law enforcement that Robinson had fallen in the restroom and died, then he wrapped her body in blankets and left her at the motel “for a couple of days.”

Afterward, he told law enforcement he “could not travel with her” and left the body in a ditch, in blizzard conditions, on his way to Minneapolis.

The medical examiner’s office, however, allegedly determined that Robinson had died from “non-accidental blunt force trauma” from several injuries to her head, as well as blunt force injuries to her extremities.

Higgins pleaded not guilty to the murder of his daughter Thursday.

He is scheduled to appear for a second plea hearing April 3, followed by a pretrial hearing May 10 and a jury trial May 20, if the prosecution and defense do not reach an agreement.